Your Smile
by ArchFaith
Summary: SH:CAfter the final battle, Karin and Yuri find themselves alone for one brief moment in time as the world collapses around them. Karin decides to tell the Yuri the truth...about them, their relationship, her future...and his past.


Note: All Shadow Hearts elements belong to Nautilus.

Your Smile

by ArchFaith

The universe was crumbling around them.

Beneath their feet—beneath their souls—the darkness seemed ever closer.

The eight companions were still as the swirling chaos enveloped all around them. Their heads were bowed; their minds were clear. Their thoughts pure and unadulterated—a new world. A world where there could be true peace, in their souls and in all the souls of those they knew and loved.

And so they prayed.

One by one a faint glow settled onto their bodies, growing brighter as they were gently swept off their feet, the gentle smiles on their faces strangely soothing as the danger loomed ever nearer. Gepetto first, the green cloak gently swaying as his body dissolved into glowing particles. Then Joachim, giving them a confident smile and a nod as he too vanished. Lucia didn't stop waving until she disappeared. Blanca gave them a quiet growl, in gratitude. Kurando clutched Anastasia as they rose up; they would go together.

_Good luck._

She watched as the shining entities vanished, their smiles radiant and encouraging as they gently waved goodbye. In stark contrast to the peacefulness seen on their contented faces the malicious, jagged rocks suddenly started to burst up out of the plain—the grey, barren world in which the final battle had been won.

It was just the two of them now.

Silent, standing side by side as the present world disintegrated, leaving only scraps and shards of memories behind.

He was not coming with her. She knew it for certain; the look in his beautiful red eyes as he raised them to her face could only say one thing.

_I won't leave._

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she gently pulled him towards her, wrapped her arms around him, laid her head onto his shoulder. Of course he would not leave; to leave would mean to lose all his memories, to live forever as an empty shell. To live would mean to continue on without her. His Alice.

Slowly she felt his muscular arms awkwardly wrap around her waist; then, as if in hesitation, he gently embraced her. The tears pooling at the base of her eyelashes suddenly spilled forth; she let them flow freely down her face, neither ashamed nor embarrassed.

_This is goodbye._

She slowly let him go, relaxed her grip around his broad shoulders as he pulled back. In alarm she immediately noted the glow emanating from his chest—her violet eyes traveled up to his as she gasped, the sound alien and discomforting to her own ears.

"Looks like time's up," he whispered simply, laying his hand on his chest, near his beating heart. "It's the Mistletoe's curse." A slight sigh escaped his lips as he stared down at the shining orb buried underneath his skin. "I knew I was living on borrowed time."

She gently placed her gloved hand against his; to her slight surprise he covered it with his free hand. "Are you scared?" she asked, her soul opening in support.

He shook his head as he looked to her. "No," he answered. Was the truth? Of course there had to be a small part inside him that was afraid; that was scared of losing his soul as well as the memories that were so dear to him. But living life without an inner light, a driving force—this was worse than death. It was continuing on without purpose, trudging through the merciless corridors of time as the cold world looked on.

"Will—will you lose your memories too?" she voiced aloud, knowing full well what his answer would be.

"Never."

"Yuri…" She blinked, straining to see him through her watery eyes, her mouth trembling as he looked back at her.

"Don't look at me like that," he said in a low, guilty voice, frowning as he calmly pushed her hand away. The anguish in her face slightly disturbed him as he grasped her shoulders. "I'll see you soon."

"Please promise me," she began, blinking to keep back the tears. "I don't want to lose you forever."

He turned to her and flashed his old, familiar grin. "You won't, Karin."

His eyes. What beautiful eyes he possessed—the eyes of a demon. Of a man. Of the one thing she loved more than life itself. The eyes she herself would bestow upon him.

"Yuri," she whispered, looking up into the dark maroon orbs, anchoring them to her soul. Now was the time. She had to tell him—there was no way she could continue on through her life without knowing that he knew. The secret; the paradox.

_The truth._

Around them the ground shook, the burning fissures making their way to the surface as she quickly looked down, unfolding the photograph from its hiding spot, tucked up inside the cuff of her glove. "Yuri…I have something to show you," she whispered as he came nearer in curiosity. "Saki gave this to me at the Fountain of Sukune…it's a picture of your family."

She placed the picture into his hands; his lips opened slightly as the familiar sign of recognition flooded his system. Despite the hazards that sprang up from the dark earth around them he smiled quietly. "Well, what do you know…me, my father, and my…my…"

_Mother._

A flash of red tresses whirled through his mind as he watched his beautiful mother gathering water from the make-shift well…her laughing grey eyes encouraging him as he walked on shaky legs towards her…her strong, firm embrace as she gathered him into her arms, soothing him as the tears streamed down his face…the calm, determined way she stood before him, shielding him with her own body as the demons crept closer, their claws opened and ready to kill—

_Her smile._

"Karin?" he asked, suddenly snapped back to reality as the quaking earth almost threw them off their feet. Knees bent, his hand still clutching the faded photograph, he whispered again, "Karin?"

It was as if she had just arrived, as if the long ago memories suddenly materialized before him. She put her hands around his shoulders to steady his slightly trembling frame, as the shock of realization flooded through him, tingling, up his spine, through his brain, flowing into his heart.

"No way," he continued, closing his eyes, trying to calm himself. "It can't be…it can't be possible…" His hands found their way around her, and he pulled her into a tight embrace, resting his head on her shoulder as the tears formed around his ruby eyes.

She placed her arms around him, patted his back, just as she had done when he was a child…but wait…he was not a child yet…and she was not his mother yet…but then again, she was…or wasn't she?

"Karin," he repeated, pulling back once more, placing his hand on her cheek, tracing the lines of her face, his fingers going over her eyebrows, her chin, her lips—memorizing her. Remembering her. Knowing that was…

_…her._

"It's not possible," he repeated, his hand coming on her shoulder once more. "How…how can this be?"

She shook her head. The answers were not within her; but somehow, somewhere, they lay inside this barren world, this grey plain, the space of madness and chaos. "I don't know," she replied simply, her pained eyes looking his. "Yuri…"

He swiftly noted the shining glow that suddenly brought her feet off the ground, raised her a few inches off the cold ground. No…he had lost her once—he could not lose her again…he grasped her hand, firmly kept her anchored to the ground as the invisible pull slowly increased in magnitude. There were too many questions…too many things he had to tell her, to ask her!

"Don't go," he pleaded, looking up at her floating form. "Don't leave me again, Mom."

Blinking as the endearing title reached her ears, she squeezed his hand, trying to fight back the pull of time as she struggled to bring herself back down to the ground. The angry winds buffeted her, shook their arms as it fought to drive them apart; but still they kept their ground. Only their wills would separate them now.

"Don't leave until I tell you everything…all that's happened to me…how much I missed you," he begged, his hand now an iron grip around her wrist.

She gave him a sad smile. "I'm not your mother yet, Yuri," she answered, relieved as the wind let up, allowing her to sink back to the ground. She let the tips of her toes touch the hard soil as he grasped her future son once again. "But I already know…I know how you feel, I know what you've done in your life…and I know how much you missed me…or will miss me." She shook her head and smiled faintly as the twisted logic in her words became apparent. "But I have to go."

The memories suddenly came back again—his father, smiling as he left for his next mission—the demons that stole into their house that night, demanding death as payment for their troubles—her cold, dead eyes as he cowered in the corner, shaking as the demons turned to him—

"You can't go!" he shouted, shaking her. "If you go, you'll die! They'll kill you! Just like they did…before…"

She was well aware of the fact. Ever since the day Saki had given her the photograph she thought about it; her death, the fact that she could not escape it, the reality that she had to die in order for Yuri's fusion abilities to awaken.

And she accepted it.

_Fate has chosen a hard path for us. You and I._

She shook her head. "I have to go, Yuri. If I don't…you will never be born." She smiled again. "And if you're never born, the world will never be saved. Without you, there will be no future."

He shook his head furiously, the tears streaming freely down his face as he brought his face closer to hers. "Karin…you can't. You know what will happen if you wish to go back in time…if you wish to become my mother. There's no way around it…you can't escape. You'll die! I won't allow you to sacrifice yourself for me!" His face grew solemn as he shook his head furiously. "I won't let you go."

She brought her hand up to his cheek, tenderly stroked it as the rocks and lava burst forth, shattering tiny islands of land that drifted among the molten fissures. "I'm going to go because I love you, Yuri," was her simple answer, her calm, dignified reply. "No matter what kind of love…it's love." She smiled as she looked up at him. "You won't be able to stop me."

He couldn't believe his ears. His best companion, his amiable friend—the woman who had confessed her true feelings for him only a few weeks before—was going to sacrifice herself for him. Even when he had quietly told her his only love could be Alice…even when he himself was going to die…she would go.

_For him._

Time was impatient. It wrenched her off the ground this time, her surprised face bringing on his alarm as he immediately grabbed both her hands this time, battling to keep her with him for only a few more moments—a few more seconds…

"Karin!"

Without thinking, he used all his strength to pull her against him, wrapped his arms around her waist as he gently grasped her face with his hands. Quickly he pressed his lips against hers—her welcoming, familiar lips. The lips she had so often kissed his forehead with—the lips that spoke words of only encouragement, and cheerfulness. The lips that smiled so tenderly so many years ago…

She kissed him back, neither appalled nor surprised at his sudden show of affection. His lips were supple, affectionate—warm. She would always remember him—always. No doubt the younger Yuri would be very different from the one who grasped her now, who kissed her now…and even though, in her future he was not yet born, she would remember her like this.

_Always._

The kiss was broken as the force pushed them apart, mildly this time—she slowly slipped out of his grasp, the only grip keeping her from disappearing her arms around his shoulders.

"I—I'm glad I got to know you, Yuri," she whispered, a teardrop falling from her cheek down onto his. "My future…will be your past. My story ended years and years ago. Remember that." He nodded as the wind whipped through his hair, tousling the auburn spikes.

"I will, Mom."

She smiled as her fingers closed around the photograph he had still been clutching in his hands. Something within told her that she would need it—that it was her key. Her destiny.

She released her grip on him, and swiftly levitated upwards, her red hair ruffled by the powerful winds which swirled around her, the dark clouds framing her bright figure as her gently smile seemed to rain down upon him. "I love you," she called to him, his raised eyes focusing on her. "Now go. Go to Alice…."

Her last words faded into oblivion as her shining form disappeared into the troubled grey sky.

He continued to stare up into the dark heavens, the small particles of light emanating from her soul still visible after a few moments. His mother…his mother! The whole time—from their first meeting, to their grand adventure, through his misery, his trials, his discoveries—she had been there for him. Just as his mother would have done. Just as his mother _had _done.

He smiled as a tear dropped down from his chin, splashed onto the quaking ground below. He closed his eyes, let his soul breathe as the jagged pillars shot up just a few feet away.

_I love you too, Karin,_ he thought, his mind clean as he felt the pillar shoot through his chest, smashing through the fragile bones and organs, shattering the red talisman that hung around his neck.

_Now I'll go see Alice. _

The End

Note: I just had to write this. After seeing both the good and bad endings of SH:C I felt I had to do something about the fact that Yuri never knew that it was Karin who became his mother. I feel that, out of all the video game endings I've ever seen, SH:C's touched me the most. I mean, here was a man willing to die so that he could be with his true love…and here was a woman who loved him so much she would do anything for him, even go back into the past and give birth to him. It was a really sweet and touching ending…here's hoping there's an SH3 in the works!

Another thing...I think a couple of authors here might post on the gamefaqs boards as well...I'm known as Faith Gainsborough there, if you ever see me around wink

Oh, and if you're wondering why exactly I had Yuri and Karin kiss like that…well, I needed some way for Yuri to convey his emotion for Karin. Hugging and kisses on the cheek didn't cut it for me—I wanted a way for them to show that, in a mother-son way (as well as in a trusted friends way), they really cared for each other. A kiss on the lips does just that…it's a firm "I love you." So no, I don't advocate incest! Remember: **_Not all true love has to be romantic._ **:D Now review!


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